BOSTON – After a season sidelined due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, seniors Ilda Ascic and Kendall Smith return to their post as Suffolk women's tennis co-captains, head coach Steve Counihan announced. 

Ascic and Smith have shared the leadership role since the 2019 campaign and begin their third term in this year. 

Suffolk has been led by a twosome for six straight seasons.  

Prior to the shutdown, the duo teamed up as the Rams' top tandem. 

In singles, Ascic, who hails from Sarveo, Bosnia, held down the top spot, in which she compiled a 3-9 ledger, while Smith, who calls Stuttgart, Germany home, was Suffolk's second racquet the last time the blue-and-gold took the court.  

The pair will lead the Rams into a new era as the team is set to compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) for the first time. Suffolk's 2021 calendar begins Thursday, Sept. 9 at Bridgewater State at 3:30 p.m. with the first CCC match on tap Wednesday, Sept. 15 at Salve Regina.